Dotted Lines
by nonchalant confession
Summary: Poppy Mellark, the daughter of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark has grown up with a long list of questions about her parents' past that always seem to go unanswered. Poppy sees a memorial event commemorating the 20th year of no Hunger Games as the perfect place to find out more about her parents' past. Waiting for her are many surprises that not even she would anticipate.
1. Chapter 1

**New story for a rainy day...**

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Chapter 1

"Mom, do we have to go?" I huff in frustration. She's forcing me to go to some stupid memorial event in the Capitol to celebrate the ending of something I wasn't even around to know…an event called The Hunger Games that took place for 75 years before the a group of rebels ended it. We've learned about it in school so I know what it was and that both my parents were a part of it.

"Yes, Poppy, it's been 20 years and we missed the last one." she explains. I remember, I was just a kid then and my mother's pregnancy with my younger brother prevented us from attending.

"Can't I stay with Aunt Posy? I'm sure she won't mind!" I plead.

"Poppy, you're going. That's final." she snaps at me. I don't want to go. It's going to be boring, just a bunch of victors give speeches about something I will never fully understand. I glare at my mother and her face mimics mine as we go head to head in a staring contest, waiting to see who will back down first. It won't be me. I hear the front door swing open and see my father enter with a loaf of bread under his arm.

"Daddy, please don't make me go." I coo sweetly, hoping it will be enough to coax him.

"Go where?" he asks with a laugh as he sets the bread onto the counter.

"To the Hunger Games thing." I say.

"Why don't you want to go?" he asks.

"I've already been once and it was boring." I reply.

"You were 7 years old. I'm sure you'll think differently of it now that you are grown." he says calmly.

"Please Daddy." I sing sweetly to him with my hand folded in front me.

"Sorry kid, can't help you this time. It's important."

"Fine, I'll go but I won't like it." I say before making a loud exit. I walk to the staircase and sit next to the bottom of the stairs to spy on my parents. Maybe my Dad will talk her into letting me stay at home without me in the room.

"I honestly don't know where she gets it from." my mother says, pressing her fingertips to her forehead. My father laughs as he wraps his arms around my mother's waist.

"Well she didn't get it from me." he says with a smirk. She rolls her eyes as she lets out a slow exhale. "It's scary how much she's like you."

"Yeah, stubbornness and all." she says, clearly annoyed.

"I don't mind it. It's kinda cute when you get all mad." he says, nuzzling his face closer to hers. I look away and crinkle my nose.

_'Gross_.' I think to myself. The last thing I want to see is my parents acting like a couple of teenagers. I wait a few seconds before looking back and see a different scene. My father is gripping onto a chair behind my mother with his eyes shut tightly. My mother is whispering things to him, words I cannot hear. This has been a regular occurrence in our house so it doesn't take me by surprise. When this happened when I was younger, I had to leave the room, as per my parents' instructions. I'm not sure why it happens or what he experiences. My parents have only told me that it's because of something that happened to him when he was young. As I watch, I can't help but notice the love in my mother's eyes as she brings him back to normal. I wonder what she says to him. It doesn't take her too before he's acting like Dad again. He mentions something about taking a shower before dinner. He finds me on the stairs and smiles, placing his hand on top my head as he passes me. When he turns the corner, I travel back to the kitchen, where my mother resumes cooking. I sit in a stool on the opposite side of the counter where she is working.

"Why does that happen to Dad?" I ask quietly.

"Poppy…"

"I'm seventeen now. I'm old enough to know." I tell her, keeping my voice calm.

"Ok." she says, complying with my request. She stood there silently for a few minutes, thinking of how she would explain it.

"After the Quarter Quell, the Capitol took your father hostage. They tried to brainwash him, turn him against me."

"Did it work?" I ask with curiosity.

"Yes, it did but some doctors from 13 tried very hard to make him better. It took a long time but they were able to get him almost back to himself. He sometimes has the triggers fire in his brain, though. That's why we had you and your brother leave the room…to make sure you were safe."

"Is it hard to bring him back?" I ask with worry.

"It can be exhausting at times." she admits. "But I don't mind."

"Why?" I ask. I'm not sure I could put in the effort she does.

"Because I love him." she says with a smile. "And your father means the world to me."

"Thanks, Mom." I say with an appreciative smile. It's nice to have an answer to one of my hundreds of questions that I have that I know she'll never answer like how she got the scars on her body that she so precariously hides. There's also the mystery of the photograph of a young man that she keeps in her top drawer. There's also the fact that her eyes get teary whenever my father brings in a freshly clipped primrose from the bushes in front of our house.

I changed my mind about the Capitol. I will gladly go. Maybe then I will finally get some answers about my parents.

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**Leave a review and let me know what you thought. Should I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2! Thanks to jakefan and alexia1012 for the reviews and to everyone that added to the story to their story alerts!**

**(whoops accidentally deleted this chapter so I am reposting!)**

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Chapter 2

A week later, we arrive at the Capitol, beginning our itinerary. The plan is to stay in the Capitol for an extended weekend for the memorial and then go to some of the close by districts to stay with some of my parent's friends.

We are staying in the building that used to be used as a Training Center for the tributes. Each District has its own floor, and we will be staying on the 12th floor. I even luck out by getting my own room since there are only 3 living victors from District 12.

On Friday evening, we go to a welcome reception at the President's Mansion as a kickoff for the weekend's events. As we reach the square in front of the Mansion, I can't help but notice the tears in my mother's eyes. Surely, it has to do with something my parents have left out in their stories. I watch as my father leans over and offers some words of encouragement. She nods her head and we continue up the front steps. There is already a considerable amount of people in the ballroom which illustrates what a big deal this is to the people who lived through that perilous time. I look around at the sea of faces, not recognizing a single soul. I'm not really sure why I would. If I had met these people, I was only seven since I've last seen them.

During the brief time that has passed, I find myself separated from my family and look around the room. As I search I see a man approaching my mother with a determined look on his face. My mother takes him by the arm and leads him to the corner of the room. I stealthfully follow them, hiding behind a curtain so I can hear what they have to say.

"You have no right to be here!" my mother reprimands him.

"Why, because I'm not a victor?" he asks.

"You know why." she responds.

"You know, Katniss, sometimes I think you forgot what side I was on."

"I know exactly what you did." she says.

"You still won't forgive me…after all those years. Katniss I don't know what else I can do."

"Just leave me alone." she says before walking away from him.

I wait until there's no one around before I sneak away from my hiding spot. I saunter around the room until I find my Dad. Maybe he can clear things up.

"Dad, how does Mom know that man?" I asked nodding in the direction of the bar.

"That is Gale Hawthorne. He used to be your mother's best friend." he informs me.

"What happened to them?" I ask pensively.

"You'll have to ask your Mom about that." he says. I have a feeling my father knows the answer, but I guess it's one of those times where it's up to my mother to let me know. Someone grips my father's shoulder and my father greets the person with a hug. I don't know who he is but my father definitely knows him. While they catch up I slip away and head toward the bar. If I'm going to find out what destroyed their friendship, it might be better to go straight to the source.

He sits on a bar stool by himself, swirling some brown liquid in a glass wearing a serious expression. Maybe my mother's conversation is still playing in his mind.

"Hi." I say, taking the stool next to him. I break his concentration and he turns to face me.

"Katniss Jr." he says with a smirk.

"Poppy." I sternly correct him.

"You're just like her." he says with a laugh. I scowl when I hear that comment. It's the millionth time I've heard that today. "Ah, you don't like that, do you?" I shake my head. As I sit beside him, I can't help but notice how kind the years have been to him. My blush hits my cheeks as I think about how I used to slip into my parent's room and sneak peeks of his photograph. I then think about how lame it was of me to have a crush on a boy that only existed in one picture.

"I used to look at your photograph." I murmur quietly so only he can hear.

"Is that meant to flatter me?" he asks.

"Maybe." I say, trying to be mysterious.

"I'm two years older than your father." he informs me.

"I don't care."

"You are more like your mother than you know." he says with a snicker as he takes a sip of his drink.

"She had a crush on you too?" I ask in a flirtatious voice.

"You both make stupid choices." he cuts back, tapping my nose with his index finger. The gesture shows me what he thinks of me.

"I'm not a child." I say to him.

"You tell me something. How much of this is you and how much of this is you rebelling against your mother?" I am shocked by his words but I quickly recover.

"What makes you think this has anything to do with my mother?"

"I saw you hiding behind that curtain during our talk. You heard every word of it, didn't you?"

"How did you…" I trail off.

"A hunter's instincts never go away. I'd be surprised if she didn't notice you there too."

Ok, so maybe he was right. Maybe the thought of him being off limits was part of the thrill, but even that didn't make him less appealing. I heard about what women in District 12 said about him.

"I wasn't lying about the photograph." I say, placing my hand over his. Before Gale can respond, my father is wedging himself between us, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"Honey, there you are. Your mother was looking for you…said she wanted to introduce you to someone."

My cheeks turn scarlet when I realize that my dad had witnessed our whole exchange. He's very good at reading people and I can tell by his expression that he knows that I'm the one who initiated it. I silently apologize with a look before leaving. At least he had the decency not to call me out on it in front of Gale. I turn around as I walk away and see my father talking and laughing with Gale as they hug each other. They are cordial to one another and it's clear that my father does not hold the same opinion of him as my mother does. I decide to look around room for my mother but she's nowhere to be found. In fact, I haven't seen her since her exchange with Gale.

A few minutes later I feel an arm around my shoulder. I look over to find my father leering at me with a raised brow.

"Gale Hawthorne." he says with an incredulous laugh.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I…"

"Come on, I have someone I want you to meet." he says motioning me to follow him. We walk to a quiet corner of the room where a woman about my parent's age is sitting, wearing a nervous expression. I wonder what her story is and why her eyes seem to endlessly scan the room. A boy around my age takes her hands and gives them a squeeze brining her back to reality. He smiles warmly at her and she returns the smile.

"Annie." my father says, holding his arms open.

"Peeta!" she says with relief as she stands up and embraces him. At first I worry for my father; this woman is clearly unstable. My mind quickly wonders to another thought. This lady is obviously good friends with my father. Why has she never been mentioned before? I am broke out of my daze when I feel Anne place her hands on my cheek.

"Oh, you look just like her!" she says with happy tears. She's taken me by surprise but I don't let my face show it. Instead I just wear a smile.

"Mom, I think you're scaring her." the boy behind her says with a laugh as he massages her shoulders.

"No it's fine." I insist, not wanting to appear rude. My eyes shift from Annie to the young man who is now standing beside her. I find myself captivated by the shade of green his eyes are and his tousled bronze locks. He has a look to him I've never seen before; one that I think any girl could appreciate.

"This is my son, Finnick." Annie says with pride.

"Poppy." I say, extending my hand to shake his. I am taken off guard when he takes my hand in his and presses his lips to the back of my hand. Is this some weird sort of greeting in his district?

"Pleasure to meet you, Poppy." he says, his eyes grinning back at me. I'm starting to think that my father brought me over here for reasons other than introducing me to Annie. I think he also brought me to Finnick to show me the types of guys I should be flirting with. It's nice that he's doing so but did he really have to lead me to the most handsome guy in the place? I feel like I am saved when I see my Aunt Johanna entering the room. She's not really my Aunt, but I call her that because she's close to my parents. She even comes to visit us twice a year from her home district, District 7. I excuse myself and quickly walk to her.

"Aunt Johanna!" I say giving her a big hug.

"Good to see you." she says returning the hug. "So what have I missed?"

"Gale Hawthorne is here." I say. I open my mouth to continue but my Aunt starts speaking first.

"Wait, Gale Hawthorne." she says with a devious smile.

"That's what I said."

"I always was interested in him. He only had eyes for your mother."

"Is that what they were arguing about?"

"There was arguing?" Aunt Johanna asks, intrigued.

"Yeah something about him never forgiving her. What did he do that was so bad that my Mom can't put it in the past." My Aunt hesitates and then purses her mouth. "Not you too." I sigh.

"If your mother found out I told you…well I'm afraid what she might do to me." Aunt Johanna says. If she's afraid of the consequences, it must be something big. She's rarely one to hold her tongue. I see a glint in her eyes and a smile spreads across her face.

"Looks like Haymitch made it here…wasted already." she says positioning me so I'm looking right at him. She pushes me forward and then disappears into the crowd. My Aunt is quite clever. We all know that a drunk Haymitch is an open book. By the looks of it, he is smashed already; I can tell by the way the volume of his voice has increased as he talks and his sloppy body movements.

"Uncle Haymitch." I say, wearing my best smile. It's pretty ridiculous that I call him this but my parents insist. I still think he's too old to be my uncle but I don't think I'd last a second if I tried to call him grandfather.

"Let me guess, you're here for a drink. Well you can't have mine…Bartender!" he says waving his hand in the air. To be honest, I haven't thought about that but I've always been curious to try it. I then realize I'm getting distracted from my true intention for visiting him.

"No, I'm fine. I actually have a question for you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, well I was talking to Aunt Johanna about it and she said you'd never answer it so I guess I really shouldn't be asking. Actually, nevermind." I say jumping off the barstool. I know how to play Haymitch and it isn't long before he takes my arm and jerks me back to my seat.

"What question?"

"I heard my mother talking to Gale Hawthorne and I was just wondering why she hates him so much."

"She never told you?"

"She never tells me anything." I reply with a curt expression. Haymitch leans in closer to me and I think he might actually tell me the reason.

"He killed her sister…at least she thinks he did." he mutters.

"My Mom didn't have a sister." I say, now confused.

"Like hell she didn't. Spent her whole life trying to save that girl. Didn't matter in the end."

"You're lying. She would have told me." I say, shaking my head.

"Next time you're alone with her, ask her who Prim is." he says.

My anger shifts from the fact that my mother never told me about her sister to the fact that her best friend managed to kill her. What in the world could have happened to drive him to do that? And why wasn't he in prison?

"How did he kill her?" I ask with my brow furrowed. I can feel my emotions getting the best of me as tears fill my eyes. "How could her best friend do that to her?"

"He didn't kill her…at least not directly. You see he was on a team that created a weapon to unleash during the war; a special kind of bomb. Her sister Prim happened to be in the square in the Capitol with a medic team when they dropped it. She's always blamed him for it."

"But he couldn't have known she'd be there." I rationalize.

"Doesn't matter to her. Her logic is wrong. He created the bomb, the bomb killed her sister, hence he killed her sister."

"Why can't she look past it?" I ask.

"Stubborn girl like that. She'd never admit that she was wrong. Sad thing is, he's spent the past 20 years trying to prove himself to her."

"How?"

"You think he wants to be away from District 12 and his family? That he wants some swanky job in District 2? He's been working his life away to show her how much he cares about the well-being of the people in this country."

"What does he want?"

"I think he'd want nothing more to go hunting with her, like they used to." he whispers in secret.

"And no one's tried to talk some sense into her?"

"Doesn't want to hear it." Haymitch says, shaking his head. "What do _you_ plan on doing with this newfound information?"

"I'm not sure." I reply but secretly, I know what I'll do next. I plan on getting answers from my mother, like why she hid the fact that she had a sister. Not now…I'm not one for causing big scenes in public. I'll wait until tonight when we have some privacy back on our floor at the Training Center. Tonight, I _will_ shed light on my mother's secret past.

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**I'm pretty excited for this story and have some big plans for future chapters.**

**Please take a minute to review! It keeps me motivated to write and update sooner! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello readers! Sorry it's been so long since I have updated this story. I took my time to figure out what I wanted to happen in this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Also, thank you to RuneQuill23334, The Inked Pen, Lunaticx3, and guests for reviewing. **

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Chapter 3

We arrive back to the Training Center fairly late. My brother heads straight to his room for bed but I still an issue to resolve. I go to my room and change into a shirt, pants, and sneakers before walking down the hall to my parent's room. I only hope they haven't settled down for the night. I knock softly three times and wait until my father shouts, "Come in!" through the wooden door. I slowly open it and find my parents still dressed in outfits from earlier.

"What is it, honey?" my father asks.

"I need to talk to mom." I quietly answer. My father goes to leave the room but I tell him to stay. It might be good to have him here. He decides to unpack their suitcases, giving us a little bit of privacy.

"What is it?" she asks rubbing my back.

"Who's Prim?" Her hand tenses against me and I know I've awoken something inside her.

"Where did you hear that name?" she asks, the anger now evident on her face.

"She is you sister, isn't she?"

"Was." she corrects me.

"How could you keep that from me? You said you were an only child!" I shout out.

"It wasn't important to tell you. She's dead…has been for a long time."

"And you think Gale Hawthorne killed her?" I accuse. This brings out even more rage. I can feel the fire in her eyes. I don't think I've ever seen her this angry.

"You have no idea what he did."

"Haymitch told me everything."

"If it wasn't for that stupid bomb he made, she'd still be there."

"But he didn't know."

"Do you have any idea what those bombs did? They killed hundreds of children. How could I ever forgive him for that?"

"But he didn't drop them. He couldn't have known they'd be used in that way." I fight back. By now my father is walking towards us.

"He killed her! If it wasn't for him, she'd still be with me!" my mother cries out. Tears are now flowing rapidly down her cheeks. She lunges toward me but my father holds her back before anything happens.

"Katniss, calm down." he mutters into her ear. She collapses in his arms, crying uncontrollably as she whispers her sister's name over and over. I can feel my chest wrenching. I didn't mean to make her this upset.

"Mom, I'm sorry." I apologize. She doesn't acknowledge my words. I quickly exit the room, feeling horrible. Tears run down my face as I make my escape. I didn't think the conversation would lead to that. I've never seen my mother in such a fragile state. Right now I wish I could run away into a forest and hunt to distract myself from the exchange I just had. The Capitol has nothing close to the woods near home. I resolve to find the training area within the building. Maybe something there will help to take my mind off what I just did to my mother. I jab the button outside the elevators until a bell chimes and the doors slide open. After studying the grid of buttons, I opt for the button on the bottom, not marked with a number. I feel myself descend lower until I reach what must be the lowest level. The doors open to reveal a dimly lit hallway. I open the door at the end of the short walkway and behind it reveals what I was looking for.

I survey the space. There is an obstacle course set up in the middle with several stations circling it. I take in each station: rope tying, knife throwing, hand-to-hand combat, among others. It isn't long until I find the archery station. I run to the bow, gingerly taking it in my hands. I inspect the design and pluck the string to test the tension. There are arrows lined up neatly on the rack above where the bow rested. Standing in front of me are targets, which resemble the human body, bulls eyes marking vital body parts. It's unsettling to see these targets. I've never even pointed an arrow towards another human being, much less shot at one. It's the only thing I have to practice on. I pull the arrow taut on my bowstring as I aim for the target over the heart, my arrow landing directly in the center of it. I proceed to hit every other bulls eye on the target. I place the bow back in its resting place and walk closer to the target to inspect my work, seeing how close to the center I got.

"Good shot." I hear a male voice murmur, close to my ear. I spin around, almost losing my balance as Finnick Odair appears into my view. He braces me, making sure I don't fall to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" I gasp as I try to retain my composure.

"Couldn't sleep. Decided to do a little exploring."

"You shouldn't just sneak up on people like that." I reprimand him. He doesn't apologize.

"You ran off earlier." he mentions.

"I saw my Aunt Johanna. She's not my real aunt…just what we call her." I babble on.

"She my Aunt Johanna, too." he says with a smirk. "She was good friends with my parents. She mentored with my father." I sink to the ground, still shaken by his sudden appearance. He lowers himself, sitting close to me.

"I didn't see your father here." I comment.

"He died before I was born." he says with a hardened expression.

"I'm sorry…I didn't know." I quickly apologize.

"I thought everyone knew about my father."

"I don't know much about that stuff. My parents don't talk about it."

"You see their Games?" he asks me. I shake my head.

"No, just photographs in textbooks." I reply. I look to him and narrow my eyes. "Why, have you seen your father's?"

"Yes, and my mother's too." he tells me. "It helped me understand why she acts the way she does."

"I don't know what happened to my parents. All I know is my mother has bad nightmares and my father has flashbacks." I say, not sure why I'm talking to him about it. I've never talked to anyone about this.

"Would you like to see their Games?" he asked.

"Of course I would. I finally might understand why those things happen to them."

"What if I told you that you could?" he asks with raised brows.

"How?" I ask turning towards him.

"They have copies of them in the archives at the history museum. That's where I watched them."

"Come on." I say taking his hand and tugging him towards the elevators.

"Whoa, slow down Poppy. You'll have to wait until tomorrow…museum's closed." he says with a laugh. I glare back at him, not amused. "Hey, not my fault. Listen, meet me in the lobby at 9 tomorrow and I'll take you there myself."

"I don't think I can wait 'til then." I admit.

"You've waited this long. A few more hours won't kill you." he claims. I huff in frustration, not satisfied with his response. "Ok fine, we'll just have to find a way to pass the time." He walks past me and I can't help but wonder where he is going. I follow him, jogging to catch up with him.

"Which stations have you covered?" he asks.

"Just archery." I tell him. He stops in front of the knot tying station and takes a seat on the ground. He throws me a length of rope before I even have the chance to sit down.

"You know any knots?" he asks me.

"No."

"You're a hunter and you can't even make a snare?" he asks, giving me a skeptical look.

"How you do you know I'm a hunter?" I ask, ripping his piece of rope from his hands as I glare at him.

"Aunt Johanna told me." he says, taking back his rope.

"Why would she tell you that?"

"Had to find out about you somehow since you wouldn't talk to me." he explains. I'm starting to realize why Mom can be so annoyed with Aunt Johanna sometimes. She sure doesn't mine dishing things out to people.

"I had more important things to do. I'm here to find answers and this weekend is all I have." I say with vigor. I see a smile creep up on his face, although I can't imagine why.

"I like you. You have spunk." he says, smirking at me.

"Just show me how to tie that stupid knot." I demand.

We play a little game. He shows me a knot; I try to replicate it. He starts with easy knots and makes them more difficult.

"I give up." I say when I come to a knot that is downright impossible.

"Ok, time for a new station." he says standing up. I join him as he begins to walk. There is something about the way he saunters around like he owns the place that I do not like. Who does he think he is, anyway? He walks past some sort of computer-based station and begins to pass the hand-to-hand combat station.

"This one." I say stopping him. I feel the need to take out my aggression on him.

"This one?" he snorts as he laughs at me. My expression must have shown him I'm not joking around. "Fine." he says. I quickly study the diagrams on the wall while he counts up to three. I attack him, kicking his legs from under him causing him to fall on his stomach. I sit on top of him and pull his arms behind his back. As I have him in the hold, I can't help but think of how easily I defeated someone of his size. Anger courses through me and I throw his arms to the ground before standing up.

"You let me win!" I shout with fury.

"I don't fight girls."

"Why, afraid you'd lose?"

"I never lose."

"Well you haven't met me." I sputter. Somehow, we are both seething, standing only inches away from each other.

"I won't go easy on you." he says with furrowed brow.

"Good." I reply. Before I know it, our hands are on each other as we try to take the other down. We both struggle for dominance over the other but the other always manages to pull a move that frees us. I eventually succumb to him. He's over a foot taller than me and is almost all muscle. He hovers over me, pinning my arms to the ground.

"I win." he murmurs as his eyes bore into me. I can't help but notice how accelerated my breaths have become. I'm not sure if it's from the fighting or his proximity to me. He doesn't seem to have any intention of moving. He just continues to stare.

"Next station." I mutter as I free myself from him. I settle on the ropes course and begin climbing the rope closest to me before he can say anything. He takes the rope next to me and starts to climb. I nimbly ascend the length of rope and before I know it, I'm sitting on some metal scaffolding near the ceiling. I look down and watch him as he struggles to make it up. He's determined, though, and has no intention of giving up. I shout out tips to help him and it appears that he takes them because he does reach the top. He sits beside me, still catching his breath as we look below on the training room.

"It's sick what the Capitol put our parents through." he murmurs.

"Things were different back then." I say, not really sure how to respond.

"You'll see tomorrow. It isn't pretty, Poppy."

"I wouldn't expect it to be. I've heard the way my mother screams in the middle of the night. It would have to be something terrible for her to react like that. She's the strongest person I know." I reveal in a low voice. I turn to face him. "Your mom…" I begin before I stop myself. It's none of my business. "Sorry, forget it."

"You want to know why she acts so crazy." he says, his voice devoid of any emotion. "If you saw what she went through, you'd understand. It's bad enough watching it on the tapes. I couldn't imagine experiencing that in real life."

I want to ask him what happened specifically but I hold back. We are nowhere near being as close to each other for him to divulge that.

"You sure you want to watch the tapes? Once you see it, it's seared in your brain. It can't be unseen." he warns

"It's the only way I'll know what happened. My parents aren't speaking about it. Even Haymitch won't tell me…or Aunt Johanna. They have some sort of secret pact." I say rolling my eyes.

"We better call it a night, then. Tomorrow's going to be a long day." he says before starting down the rope. I follow him, carefully making my way down to the ground. We exit the training room together and take the elevator, him pressing button 4 and me pressing button 12. The bell chimes when we reach the fourth floor and the doors open. He looks over at me with a sadness in his eyes that I cannot place. He doesn't even try to exit the lift.

"What's wrong?" I mumble to him.

"Just being here, experiencing the places and things he experienced. It's a little overwhelming." he admits. I don't know what to do. Should I comfort him? I barely know the guy. "I'm staying in his room…probably a mistake."

"So pick another one."

"All occupied. District 4 had their fair share of victors." he comments.

"Then stay with me for the night." I reply, immediately regretting my words. The last thing I need is this. He'll probably tease me or make some suggestive remark. I quickly think of something to add to make it sound like I'm not after him. "We can make sure the other is up early for tomorrow so we don't waste time."

"I'd like that." is all he says. I hit the button marked 12 and we ascend. I only hope that I'm not making a huge mistake letting Finnick Odair share my bed for the night. The doors open and I instinctively take his hand, silently leading him down the hall to my room. The floor is quiet, with everyone asleep. We slip inside my room and I let go of his hand as I make my way to the bed. I kick off my shoes off and climb under the covers. He does the same. He whispers goodnight to me and I close my eyes, quickly drifting off to sleep.

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**Let me know what you think about this chapter in the reviews. Also, tell me anything you might like to see in future chapters!**


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